In the context of web application development and testing, it may be desirable to determine how fast can a web page be loaded in response to a user's request. For example a method for testing web-based applications may include measuring the response time of one or more web pages. Specifically, after the loading of a web page is initiated, an event is received indicating preparation to navigate to the web page and a timer mechanism is started. Another event is received indicating that the web page has completed loading and the timer mechanism is stopped and the elapsed time for the web page to load is determined by accessing the timer readings. This method does not distinguish between loading a web page for the first time and loading a web page that was previously cached at the client system associated with the requesting user. A web page sent from the server computer (server) typically behaves in the same manner as a cached web page does.